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meine Freunde

1 May 2011

Local Government

this is my discussion with the lecturer..

03052011

Final Examination for local government

QUESTION 1 A

Decentralization is the transfer of duties,responsibilities and functions from a higher level of government to the lower level.There are 3 forms for decentralization which is political, administrative and financial

Political decentralization is the transfer of political power whereas administrative decentralization is the transfer of resources, knowlwdge, skills from higher level to the local government

QUESTION 1B

Malaysia does not practice full political and administrative decentralization.

Local government practise is limited political and administrative decentralization because

-it has limited financial resources

- it taking powers are minimal

- it faces shortage of technical and professional staff

-it counsillors are not elected but appointed (political decentralization)

Malaysia does not have limited administrative decentralization since local government is a body corporate and has specific financial power such as the power to tax and power to obtain loan, overdraft from banks. In term of human resources, local government can hire and fire its own staff

QUESTION 2 A

The Jeffersoniantradition of local government is passionately linked to democrate ideals and the liberty of the individual. It is a mechanism for the seld expression of the individual and the sovereignity of the individual.It is the manifestation of participatory democracy. It is also refered to as the Romantic School of Local Government US and some scandinarian countries practice this tradition.

The virtues of this tradition are

-to promote participation from the community

-to provide representative that responsible and accountable government

-to promote community

QUESTION 2B

Malaysia does not practice this tradition totally because

-there is no elections to local councils

-councillors are appointed by the respective state government

But some elements of this tradition can be identified such as-

Participation is being encouraged at the local level via such as Local Agenda 21

Counsillors are now being appointed from the community such as from NGOs, CBOs

The counsillors are trying to establish mechanism such as through the internet to get appropriate feedback from the community

QUESTION 3

Introduction : definition / concept of Local Government

Evolution of local government form, structure and purpose

During the Malay sultanate: stated- ruled by Sultan, district-administed by Pembesar, Kampung- ruled by chieftain

Purpose-collection of taxes and revenues and general administration- maintainance of peace and order,colonial / British rule

Form and structure- pre-independence, commitee of assessors- 1801,municipality council under strait settlements 1874 to Local Authority Election Ordinance 1952, Local Authority Election helf at Ipoh and KL

Local Authority Ordinance-1952, Town Council Ordinance-1954, Purpose –collection of post- independence-Local Election Act 1960, National Council for Local Government 1960 . Athi Nahappan Commision Report 1968. Proposed revamp- introduction election of proposal accepted. Proposal to hold election not approved by federal government .Present status- 3 forms of Local Government- City, Municipal Council and District Council

Purpose- administration of local area and service delivery with some service privatized. Local participation welcomed conclusion

QUESTION 4

-Participatory democracy is referred to also as direct/classical democracy. In this type of democracy, participation is direct and most interest are represented

-In participatory democracy, broad ranges of interests are represented and participatory are integrally involved throughout the planning process from initiation through decision implementationa and monitoring

The main principles of this theory are

-it is a bottom up approach where the social actors held the initiative and organization phrasses of the decision making process

-it is based on the principle of collaboration

-it finds its conceptual roots in communicative action theory

-the actors participate viaface to face dialogue

Malaysia practice a limited form of participatory democracy because:

-there are no direct elected to local councils but councillors are appointed by the state authorities

-local council still practice a top down approach in handling their affairs such as in policy making but there are now avenues for the community to have their say through various channel established such as the websites, the media and public hearings.

-the local government and town and country planning Act have Specific Provisions for Local Community participation such as Section 23

QUESTION 5

Intro: definition/ concept of budget

Budget as a planning tool

Fiscal policy tool

-allotment function- allocatingbudget for local projects/ insfrastructure and service through 5 years plans

-distribution / social function – distribute local government revenue/grants from federal or state government equitably and in a justified manner especially to reduce gap between rich and poor. Provide socio-economic service/ service delivery

Management tool

-ensure allotment used properly,no misuse funds

- control use of funds-information from budget helps monitor use of funds to ensure its in keeping with provision approved in budget

-performance measurement- to ensure objective are achieved efficience and effectively

- a tool to ensure government officers abide by financial procedures and insructions

1)Need to develop open areas especially hilly slopes with due consideration to ecological demand\

-land cleared and natural vegetation removed without thinking about impact, lead to problems of soil erosion, leading to landslides in hilly slopes and silted rivers

-damage to property and loss of lives

-water suppliers to home, industries and commercial centres risk being cut off as rivers ( source of water supply) become clogged with salt and sediment

-mountain range and hill slopes are water catchment area- future/ potential source of water supply

-hill slopes – natural habitat contributing to conversation the following

2) local government should take into consideration the following

-building plans should be properly scrutihizell before approval

-sustainable development principle should be incorporated in decision making

-public participation should be emphasized before any development is approved

-views from NGO and other relevant bodies should be included before plans are approved

QUESTION 7

Local agenda 21- it is an UN funded organization prog for sustainable development where the local councils are the lead player will have to work with respective stakeholders such as NGO’s and the private sector. Participation is the key to the success of LA21

E-local government- the use of government agencies of information technologies that have the ability to transform relations with citizens, business and other forms of government. These technologies on serve a variaty of different ends, better delivery of services , improved interactions with business and industry, citizen empowerement through access to information and more efficient government administration

National urbanization policy- it was formulated in 2006 to improved urban governance in Malaysia.The ill effects of urbanization such as traffic congestion, lack of adequate housing, overcrawding hazard and adhoc planning are some of the reasons for its formulation

Star rating system for local council- the SRS system for local councils was introduced to evaluate the level of performance of local council and to further improve the operations of high performing councils so that their services are effective and efficient. There are 252 indicators that were created under 4 main criteria, management, service trust, customer management and community involvement and views. Local council are rated on scale from 1 to 5. Most councils have got an average rating of 3 to 4 only

Privatisation of local service- is where the local governmental agencies privatise some of its services to the private sectors. Examples of its are Indah Water , Alam Flora. Student should explain the reason for privatization such as it lead to better delivery of services, more efficiency, timelines of providing services and reducing operational cost for local government

The ill effect to privatization such as lack of control over the privatized agencies passing the burden on to consumers can also be discussed